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Category: Common Health Conditions

Powerful Toenail Fungus Treatments

Where you aware that toenail fungus is literally a contagious disease? Many people do not understand that toenail fungus is even considered a disease, let alone an infectious contagious one. Treating toenail fungus successfully with ‘over the counter’ products or natural home remedies has become incredibly popular.

This will come as no surprise when you happen to learn the fact that over 30 Million men and women in the USA struggle with a nail fungus ailment of some description.

There are various ways in which a person can wind up with a nail fungal condition, so it is not anything to be ashamed of. Getting it, however, is the easy part, getting rid of it is something else entirely.

If you are uncertain whether you have this repulsive toenail condition, there are a few obvious indications that you need to pay very close attention to.

Symptoms Prior To Treating Toenail Fungus

There many indicators of nail fungus. These signs often develop over a period of time, but start quickly after the fungus starts to flourish. They can be:

Discolored nails (yellowish)

Roughened Toenails (sometimes brittle)

Oddly Shaped Toenails

The symptoms of toenail fungus commonly transpire in an orderly type fashion. In the beginning, the color of the toenail will start to alter. The toenail will begin to become discolored, and it will typically change to a yellowish color.

The toenails might then become thick and much rougher than normal, even brittle. When the toenail fungi reaches its most severe, the toenail may begin to disfigure. It might come away from the skin and give off an awful repugnant smell .

How Does Toenail Fungus Develop?

Toenail fungus has the tendency to cultivate when bacteria starts flourishing beneath or around the edges of the toenail. The fungi has an opportunity to cultivate particularly when the toenail and the feet are resting in a moist environment. This can include sweaty socks or any footwear, for instance, running shoes.

The fungus is also extremely infectious so it can effortlessly be passed from one person to another, as well as, from one toe to another! Contagion from athletes foot is another easy source from which toenail fungus can cultivate, flourish and spread.

Treating Toenail Fungus With Home Remedies

You might imagine that getting toe nail fungus is a life sentence, but this is totally false. There are tried and tested methods that will allow you to get rid of the toenail fungus is as little as 60-90 days.

There are a number of different treatment options that could be carried out in the personal privacy of your own home. This makes things much less embarrassing.

You can start getting rid of the fungus by making a foot bath to soak your feet in, on a daily basis. The foot soak ought to be composed of warm water, 2 tbsps of baking soda, and 2 tbsps of white vinegar.

You should settle your feet into this bath for around 30 minutes, once daily. Assuming that you continue this approach, you can eliminate your nail fungus within about 2-3 months or perhaps less if you catch the condition early. Trimming your toenails regularly will also optimise them for keeping the fungus proliferation to a minimum.

Getting Rid Of Toenail Fungus Faster

If you require something much more powerful and convenient that will cure your toenail fungus much quicker than a vinegar foot soak, there are one or two all natural heavy duty options readily available to you.

I strongly suggest you try either ZetaClear or Funginix. They work wonders when treating toenail fungus and can completely clean up an infection in about 6-10 weeks. For more information take a look at their reviews at: http://nailfungusrelief.info

Is There Enough Vitamin N In Your Life?

Growing up, Teresa Bruffey was passionate about nature-passionately against it. To the self-conscious Seattle teen, the outdoors seemed dirty, scary, and uncomfortable.

When she did spend time in nature, her suspicions were validated: Sand snuck into her swimsuit at the beach, chafing her skin; flies buzzed around her at picnics, freaking her out Communing with Mother Earth, she maintained, was not her thing.

Until one day, it was. Sometime after college, a boyfriend convinced Teresa to join him on an overnight backpacking trip to nearby Kaleetan Peak. “I was terrified, panicked about it getting dark and animals lurking in the wilderness, “she says. “But when I woke up, it was blue sky and mountains all around. Everything was still and beautiful. I just felt, I don’t know, full.”.

Teresa had always been active; she ‘d even taken up rock-climbing-though always indoors. But after the camping trip, she began climbing outside, dragging friends along and overcoming a fear of heights in the process. “Being in nature reset my confidence and peace of mind,” she says.

Intuitively, her story makes sense-remember your parents’ mantra “Fresh air will do you good”? But it now also makes sense scientifically. “The vast majority of evidence points in one direction: We can be happier, healthier, and smarter if we weave more nature into our lives,” says leading naturalist Richard Louv, author of The Nature Principle.

He points to a surge in studies that strongly suggest a link between the outside and your insides, and that the best mind-body medicine may lie right beyond your front door.

From Green To Black

For 5 million years, humans depended on nature for just about everything, including food, shelter, and the regulation of sleep cycles, says M. Sanjayan, Ph.D., lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy.

“Nature guided us in a very direct way,” he says. “But in the past thousand years, that started shifting; in the past 50, it has really shifted. To think that we could adapt to that in a few generations is ludicrous.”.

Like Louv, Sanjayan believes humans are biophilic-that we have an innate attraction to, and connection with, nature. And that the sudden absence of nature from our lives could throw our well-being way off-kilter.

In fact, the modern way of living, complete with loads of indoor time, has given rise to what Louv has coined “nature-deficit disorder,” a condition that may come with adverse health effects.

For example, one study found that the farther you Jive from green space, the likelier you are to be in poorer health. Other research suggests that rising rates of allergies and autoimmune disorders might be caused, in part, by Jess exposure to healthy bacteria found in nature.

Still more science has linked reduced exposure to nature to higher risk for obesity, cancer, heart disease, anxiety, and depression. Women seem to be sinking deep into nature-deficit disorder.

Per our survey, “Health Benefits of Nature,” those who felt too stressed were more likely than non-frazzled women to spend a free day curled up on the couch.

The picture gets worse when those stressed women actively try to relax: 54 percent plunk themselves in front of the TV, 44 percent eat, and 31 percent have a glass of wine; only 26 percent head out for a walk in the park.

Yet the cure for nature-deficit disorder-not to mention a host of other ailments, might lie in that simple walk. A whopping 86 percent of stressed-out women said their mood improves when spending time outdoors in nature.

That would come as no surprise to Louv, who touts even small doses of” vitamin N” (as in nature) as a powerful protector of your body and mind.

Forces Of Nature

The most cutting-edge research on the nature-health link is happening in Japan, where scientists are measuring the physical effects of” forest bathing.”

One study found that people’s blood pressure, resting heart rate, and levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) were all significantly lower after a 15-minute nature walk compared with a l5-minute city walk.

Another experiment found a 37 percent spike in the number of women’s natural killer cells-the backbone of the immune system after they spent a few hours in the woods.

Where, exactly; the benefits are coming from is still unclear. What is clear is that vitamin N can also have profound effects on your brain.

Modern multitasking over taxes brain areas that are involved in suppressing distractions, thinking creatively, and developing a sense of identity,” says David Strayer, Ph.D., a neural scientist at the University of Utah. “Getting out into nature allows those parts of the brain to restore and replenish themselves.”.

Strayer recently co-Jed a study that found people were 50 percent more creative after spending four days backpacking in nature. Separate research shows that people’s memory power and attention span rose significantly after an hour-long walk in an arboretum.

Soaking in vitamin N may also be the easiest mood lift ever: When people took hour-long walks in a park versus a mall, a stunning 90 percent of them reported higher self-esteem, and 71 percent said they felt less depressed, per research at the University of Essex in the U.K. (Nearly half the mall rats reported feeling worse about themselves and some felt depressed.)

The same researchers found it’s not just “green” outings that do the trick: “Blue-green” exposure-i.e., time spent near rivers, lakes, or oceans-had the most positive emotional effects.

Kind of makes you want to get outside, like, immediately. Right?

The Fresh Air RX

Some doctors find the data so compelling that they’re writing “nature prescriptions” to help prevent and treat conditions ranging from heart disease to diabetes to depression.

Daphne Miller, M.D., a family physician in San Francisco, hands her patients park maps with instructions on which trails to take and whether to walk, run, or just sit outside. “Nature therapy can be a powerful intervention,” she says. “People are more likely to stick to it, it’s readily available anywhere, and it’s free.”.

Even if your M.D. isn’t writing you scripts for two loops around the lake, you should still get on board with nature therapy. In fact, per our “Health Benefits of Nature” survey, most women already understand that nature is good for health, and 73 percent wish they could spend more time outside.

But the excuses keep mounting: Women are too intimidated by too-hot or too-cold weather (53 percent), too busy (44 percent), or too comfortable hanging out at home (22 percent).

The truth is, you don’t even need to move much to score a healthy dose of vitamin N. Those “forest bathing” studies found the same stress level, heart-rate, and blood-pressure reductions in people who spent l5 minutes just sitting in a chair in the woods.

Other research shows that five minutes in any kind of natural setting is enough to boost your mood. So feel free to start small with a trip to a local park or a walk around a reservoir. (” The more nature you get, the better you’ll feel,” says Miller.) Then forget about limiting yourself; mega doses of vitamin N don’t come with any negative side effects.

A Quick Guide To Pain Relief When Pain Strikes:

When pain strikes it can be all too common to immediately reach for the medicine cabinet. Our advice is to think before you take any medicines. Understand first what you are taking before you take it. Make sure it will be an effective pain relief for the pain you have.

Don’t prolong the use of pain killers as they will only mask the real problems. Visit your physician. The last thing you want to do is cause yourself more damage. In the meantime, here’s our quick guide to pain relief types.

1 – For Headaches

Best OTC (over the counter) options

Start with paracetamol (Panado) or an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) like ibuprofen (Nurofen) or aspirin (Disprin). For a killer headache, try a med that contains caffeine.

Safe limit

Follow the dosage instructions.

Good to know

Wash NSAIDs down with coffee or tea (sans milk). Studies show caffeine boosts the drug’s effectiveness.

If you need more relief

If you have two or more headaches a week that interfere with your life, they may be migraines that require a prescription med.

2 – For Fever (sore throat and Flu)

Best OTC options

Safe limit

Paracetamol: up to 4 000mg a day for up to three days. Ibuprofen: up to 1 200mg a day for up to 10 days.

Good to know

Don’t OD by mistake– lots of cold and flu remedies (including Med-Lemon) also contain these meds. Read the labels.

If you need more relief

Bed rest and drinking plenty of fluids are the best ways to ensure your body beats the virus as quickly as possible.

3 – For Sore Muscles

Best OTC option

Paracetamol

Safe limit

Up to 4 000mg a day for up to three days.

Good to know

Skip ibuprofen and other NSAIDs. Research suggests that prostaglandins (messenger molecules in the body) help muscles heal, and these drugs suppress prostaglandin production.

If you need more relief

Try hot- and cold-packs or compression (wrapping the area). For severe pain, your doctor may give you a prescription strength painkiller.

4 – For Chronic Pain

Best OTC options

Paracetamol or NSAIDs for flare-ups. Taken continuously, NSAIDs can irritate the stomach and paracetamol is potentially toxic to the liver.

Safe limit

Paracetamol: up to 4000mg a day for up to three days. Ibuprofen: up to 1 200mg a day for up to 10 days. Take higher doses only with a doctor’s go-ahead.

Good to know

NSAIDs may weaken the stomach’s lining and can cause ulcers.

If you need more relief

See your doctor for pain that lasts longer than a month. Acupuncture, exercise and massage may help.

5 – For Menstrual Cramps

Best OTC options

NSAIDs, especially naproxen (Aleve) and ibuprofen; they cut the production of cramp-causing prostaglandins.

Safe limit

Naproxen: up to 600mg a day for up to 10 days. Ibuprofen: up to 1 200mg a day for up to 10 days.

Good to know

Start taking the meds a few days before your period is due.

If you need more relief

Heating pads or a good old fashioned hot water bottle can ease muscle pain.

When pain strikes, always take precautionary measures. Do not think you can just exercise through the pain. Lower the intensity of any exercise you do. Obviously, the recommendation is to refrain from all exertion until the pain has gone.